


one to ten protocol

by c1vilwars



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Domestic Avengers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Is Alive, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not Canon Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, and a lot of it, will he get one? maybe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27331534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c1vilwars/pseuds/c1vilwars
Summary: “i call it the one to ten protocol. every day, either me or karen will ask how your day was on a scale from one to ten. one being the worst day, like the day i lost to captain america”peter held back a chuckle as the other man cracked a little smile.“and ten being the best day” tony finished his sentence.“like the day you came to my apartment and took me to germany?” peter laughed.“yea, like that day” tony smiled.this is basically a fic about peter feeling a bunch of emotionsand of course tony is there to help him through itthis takes place a couple months after homecoming, and infinity war doesn't happen
Relationships: Happy Hogan & Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff & Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 7
Kudos: 33





	1. introduction (0)

**Author's Note:**

> heyyyy i got this idea at 2 in the morning and now im writing it  
> (im planning on having more chapters, probably one for each number on the scale so 10 chapters)

the multiple labs at the avengers compound were peter's safe place. when he came to visit on the weekends, a majority of his time was spent with all the technology he couldn’t possibly own at his small queens apartment. all of the newest technology was a fingertip away, and peter could spend hours and hours playing with it. most days he did.

it was nice to get some alone time doing something he loved, almost relieving. his monday-thursday was an infinite cycle of waking up, attending school, ordering a number five with pickles at delmars deli, and then swinging all around queens as the crime-fighting spiderman.

in all honesty, it was _exhausting_. he was a kid who still had school to focus on. and being a superhero added more to his very full plate.

grazing into the eyes of another iron man suit he and tony were planning to fix on this day’s chilly saturday, peter thought about what life would be like if he didn’t have a mentor like the one and only tony stark. he was forever grateful that a man like him came into his life.

* * *

footsteps behind the teen caused him to snap out of the trance he was in and turn around so he was staring right into tony stark’s eyes.

“how’s it coming along?” the billionaire asked, moving so he was now standing on the kids’ right side.

“h-hey mr. stark. it’s going good” peter replied, looking back at the broken suit in front of him.  
“good, can i talk to you about something?”  
tony’s response made peter tense up.  
“y-yea. what’s up?” he asked, now looking at the ground.

when the two arrived at a meeting room, tony was the first to sit down in one of the spinny chairs. he looked through a folder. peter sat across from him, silently tapping his foot on the ground out of anxiety. he glared at the folder.  
“underoos, i want you to know that i’m always here for you”

tony’s words made peter look up at the man who was looking up at the teen. there was no look of humor on his face. this was serious. peter stopped tapping his foot.

“i know mr. stark” the teen responded as tony motioned for him to sit next to him. peter stood up and walked around the table and sat in a chair next to tony, who spun peter so that his body was facing tony’s. the older man revolved himself so now the two superheroes were facing each other from head to toe.

“parker, i’ve been thinking about this ever since the day on the roof and i want to know what you think, alright?” tony asked, observing peter’s body language as clarification.

“o-ok...what is it? am i gonna lose the suit again? i-is there another mission? is everyth-” peter stopped mid-ramble as a hand was placed upon his shoulder. the two made eye contact.

“no underoos, nothing like that,” tony replied, holding back a slight smile. he took both his hands and placed them in his lap.  
there was no rebuttal from peter. he had no idea what was going to happen.

“after what happened a couple of months ago, i had no idea how you would handle everything that happened,” tony began, crossing his legs together before continuing.

“and you know that i care about you so much. if anything happened to you, i’d feel guilty. my mentor skills would’ve failed. so i thought of a system”  
tony used his pointer, middle, and ring fingers to move the open folder over to peter, who rotated the chair so his body was facing the table. he studied the folder, waiting for tony to comment on what exactly the happy and sad faces meant.

“i call it the one to ten protocol. every day, either me or karen will ask how your day was on a scale from one to ten. one being the worst day, like the day i lost to captain america”  
peter held back a chuckle as the other man cracked a little smile.

“and ten being the best day” tony finished his sentence.

“like the day you came to my apartment and took me to germany?” peter laughed and read the words on the folder with more attention.

“yea, like that day” tony smiled and scooted his chair closer to the teen.

“but peter, i’m serious about this. if you don't check in with me or karen, i’m tracking you down. i want to make sure you’re always ok.” he scanned the kid, who nodded.

“it starts when you go home from the compound so…”  
tony had to open up his phone to check the calendar.

“it starts in two days”

peter nodded again, not knowing how this weird protocol was going to work out. there was nothing that he could hide from tony stark now. he can’t lie to him.

the rest of the saturday was the two fixing an old iron man suit, which by sunset they did finish. saturday nights were movie nights at the compound, and peter being the guest, picked _‘star wars: return of the jedi’_ which tony was asleep halfway through.

* * *

when happy drove peter back to his apartment sunday evening, tony tagged along much to both happy’s and peter’s surprise.  
the drive was quiet, aside from the small talk the driver and the older man made. peter listened to music, observing the aesthetics of the world outside the car.

as they arrived at peter’s first home, tony exited the car.  
“underoos, if you need anything before next friday, let me know ok?”  
peter grabbed his backpack from the trunk and swung it over his shoulder, before looking at the man.  
“i will mr. stark, thank you for everything” he smiled.  
“kid, call me tony”  
peter’s smile got even brighter. _maybe_ this new protocol would be a good thing.


	2. make my messes matter (make this chaos count) (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “peter, there was a reason i made the protocol. did you have a bad day?” tony inquired, figuring that something was wrong.  
> “n-no mr. stark. im just busy, that’s all”  
> “you’re too busy to summarize your day with a number?”
> 
> the one to ten protocol starts, and peter isn't the biggest fan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! hope you all enjoy the second chapter  
> chapter title is from jupiter by sleeping at last

it’s been four days since tony discussed the one to ten protocol with peter, and for two days he’s been checking in with his mentor.

the first day, which was monday, tony called his mentee as he was out being spiderman. they each talked about their day, with tony rambling on and on about how much he hates meetings. The mentor stated he would rather _“be fighting ultron”_ which peter found funny, but didn’t know meetings were that dreadful. 

the teen explained how his biochemistry pop quiz went, which he said was good but the scores wouldn’t be given out until the next day. all they did was talk about causal things. tony never asked for a number, they both just talked. if that's all the one to ten protocol was, then peter would have an easy time. 

the next day it was a text, which came to his phone right at 2:45 when the last bell of the school day rang.

 ** _from mr. tony stark at 2:45:_** _“Hey Underoos!! How was your day at school? Remember what we discussed on Saturday? You better not have forgotten! I expect a response soon!! Btw are you coming to the compound on Friday? Let me know!!”_ _  
__“By the way, not btw. Karen said it would make me seem more hip. I don’t think it worked”_

peter chuckled at the text (and the older man's attempt at being cool) and responded as he exited the school.

 ** _to mr. tony stark at 2:48:_** _“My day was good Mr. Stark. I’ll probably come to the compound, I still have to ask May”_

after tapping the send button, peter hurried to his favorite deli shop.

* * *

“hey, peter!”

delmar and the young kid made eye contact as peter made his way over to the counter.

“hi, mr. delmar” he smiled at the owner, with who he had formed a pretty good relationship with over the years.

“the usual?”

“yep. make sure its real flat”

the deli owner grinned at the customer as another worker behind him prepared the sandwich for him. 

“so how is school going?” mr. delmar asked peter who was petting a cat that was laying on the counter.

“it's going good, i totally aced my biochem quiz. we got the scores back today” the teen beamed at the man who was smiling back. 

the other worker tapped the owner's shoulder and handed him a sandwich, which he bagged then handed to peter.

“thank you mr. delmar” he geeked before running out of the shop.

as he zoomed his way into an alley, his phone began to ring. he fumbled in his sweatshirt pocket for the device and took it out

**_incoming call from tony stark_ **

shit.

he answered the call and held it to his left ear, walking over to a wall and shifting his weight so he was leaning against it.

“h-hey mr.stark”

“hey kid, you never responded to my text”

peter put his mentor on speaker and went to his messages, making sure he wasn’t crazy.

“yea i did. i said my day was good and that i’d a-” the teen stopped mid-sentence.

the protocol.

he responded to the text but never rated his day with a number.

“m-mr. stark, do i really have to say a number every day?”

“peter, there was a reason i made the protocol. did you have a bad day?” tony inquired, figuring that something was wrong.

“n-no mr. stark. i'm just busy, that’s all”

“you’re too busy to summarize your day with a number?”

there was no response from peter, who was just standing still in the alley.

“it was a five. it was like any other day. not good or bad. can i go now?” he finally snapped, breaking the tension.

there was a silence. neither person said anything.

“ill be there in fifteen” tony finally revealed and the call ended.

peter slid his phone into his sweatshirt pocket. there wasn’t any reason for tony stark to take time out of his day to see the teenager. it was tuesday, the middle of the week. couldn’t his mentor wait to see him?

he was fine.

his days were just cycles of the same thing.

wake up at 6:15 to his alarm. get ready for the day. somedays eat breakfast at home depending on whether or not may took an early shift. go to school until 2:45. get his usual from delmars, and then spiderman. 

the boy was tired. not of being spiderman, not of anything like that. just the _same_ thing every single day. there wasn’t any reason for his day to be higher or lower than five.

* * *

he was caught up in his head and didn’t hear tony stark a couple of feet away from him.

“kid”

peter shifted his weight so he was no longer leaning on the wall. in the corner of his eyes, he could see tony making his way close to him. he was in his iron man suit, but the helmet was off. he must’ve flown to the teen, which explains how he got there so quickly.

peter turned his head and made eye contact with the mentor.

“h-hey. i was just thinking about some stuff”

“yea it looked like it. why was your day only a five?” tony asked getting straight to the point.

“what's a number that’s between one and ten?” peter responded, shifting his eye contact so he was looking at the disgusting alley concrete he stood on.

“am i a second grader to you?” 

peter let out a chuckle to tony’s response.

“so, your day was in the middle?” tony continued after peter's chuckle died out. 

the teenager nodded, not having any more words to say. how do you explain how a normal, middle day even feels? there are no happy feelings. but no sadness either.

“y-yea. not good-” 

“or bad. like a grey kind of day.” tony completed his mentees sentence.

peter’s eyes darted up so he was making eye contact with tony again and quickly nodded.

“well, how can i make it better?” tony asked, letting out a slight smile.

“i-i don't know. every day is like this” peter admitted as he started to fumble with his hands in front of him.

“first kid, you need to eat”

tony took a glance at the bag that held peter’s sandwich.

“right. almost forgot i had that”

the two stood in the alley, with peter eating the entirety of his sandwich in about 5 minutes. with his metabolism, it was no surprise.

“kid, if you want to, we can go to the compound or the tower and you can stay the night and just take a little break from everything”

“b-but i have spiderman a-and school and i cou-” peter was silenced but tony placing his pointer finger to his lips.

“you’re allowed to take breaks. we all need them sometimes”

there was a sigh from peter who nodded in agreement.

“can i call may to make sure it's ok?”

tony laughed at the kids' response.

“of course you can ‘roos”

after calling may and stopping at peter’s apartment so he could pack a bag, the two were on their way to the compound with happy driving them. the afternoon sky was a gorgeous shade of blue, with an occasional small cloud. 

“alright boss, wanna hear about what happened when you were gone?” happy asked

* * *

“so you’re telling me that while i was gone for under an hour, _vision_ , while trying to make wanda's dish started a fire, and even though he's an _android_ he _didn’t_ know how to put it out?” tony laughed at happy’s story so hard that he was unable to continue talking after finishing his sentence.

“he’s going to need some new code”

peter’s interjection intensified tony’s laughter, and even happy laughed at the teens' joke. 

“you got that right kid” happy responded, looking at peter from the rearview mirror and cracking a quick smile at him.

the rest of the drive was the three sharing stories, including happy sharing a couple about tony who was flushed for a majority of the car ride.

when the three arrived at the compound, the first thing peter did was rush down to the lab. tony followed suit and soon the two were working on a new protocol that F.R.I.D.A.Y would use in case of a fire.

peter was typing some code when he felt tony’s presence close to him. 

“so, is this day now better than a five?” tony asked, leaning one arm on the table and angling his head so he could see peter’s face. 

there was a smile from peter who stopped typing.

“yea, definitely”

peter and tony continued to work on the code until it was finished. they high-fived each other and peter had a gleam on his face that his mentor had never seen before. it was reliving. maybe he was doing good. did he just need a break?

tony’s question resonated with him when they exited the lab and made their way to the kitchen, where steve, natasha, wanda, and vision were all sitting.

“hey, peter!” steve beamed at the young superhero who waved back.

“vision, wanna make him some dinner?” tony asked, knowing exactly what would happen.

“sir, i’m not sure i am capable” 

peter contained his chuckle and observed the android, who hung close to wanda.

“i guess i have to test this out another way” tony responded, walking over to the appliances. everyone in the room watched as he turns the stove on. to his right were the ovens, which had a towel draped over one of the handles.

he took the towel, placed it on the stove, and waited

“tony, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” natasha yelled, watching what was unfolding.

“just wait” peter replied. her head swung in his direction

“i'm trusting you” she mumbled, moving closer to peter.

the room was silent.

until the towel set on fire.

and everyone started screaming.

“pour baking soda, which is in the upper cabinet on the right of the ovens onto the fire. grab the fire extinguisher which is in the cabinet below the sink. pull the pin on the extinguisher. aim low, pointing the extinguisher nozzle at the base of the fire. squeeze the handle and sweep from side to side at the base of the fire until it appears to be out.”

F.R.I.D.A.Y repeated these instructions, which tony followed until the fire was out.

“new protocol. i call it _the fire protocol_ ” tony laughed, walking over to vision and patting the droid on the shoulder. he did not seem amused.

“me and mr. stark programmed it. just because of what happened earlier today” peter explained to everyone in the room, with wanda looking impressed. 

everyone filed out of the room to do their own thing until it was just tony and peter.

“thanks for helping me kid, it was great to see visions reaction” tony started whilst cleaning up the black piece that used to be a towel.

“no problem, we should think of more protocols to make!” peter suggested.

and they did.


	3. go ahead and laugh (even if it hurts) (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by now, peter was shouting. everything he’s been feeling for the past couple of months was coming out in waves.  
> terrifying was the only way to describe it. the way each word left his tongue, and the way tony was gazing at the kid with a look of concern he hadn’t seen before.  
> it was all new and terrifying for the both of them.
> 
> something makes peter break. and tony is there to put him back together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up!  
> between school, work, and just life in general, things have been so busy.  
> ll try my best to get another chapter out soon!  
> chapter title is from heart by sleeping at last

peter and tony, even after the sunset, kept thinking of new protocol ideas. the two were in the living room sitting across from each other and their list of concepts was getting bigger and bigger.

“so what if we make a protocol that alerts F.R.I.D.A.Y everytime someone passes out?” peter suggested to tony, who nodded as he wrote it down on a notebook page.

“that’s a good one kid. want to work on the code tomorrow?” tony asked the teen, who was looking in another direction.

“i have school tomorrow,” peter answered, before standing up and making his way to the kitchen.

“didn’t we talk about this? that you were going to take a break?”

the sentence made peter stop in his tracks.

“y-yea but i can’t skip it mr. stark. i-i have to get my homework and be in class and-” 

tony stood up from the seat he was previously sitting in and walked over to the teen in the kitchen. 

the two were now making eye contact. it didn’t break until peter walked away from his mentor back to where he was just sitting a couple of seconds ago. he stood behind the chair and tapped his fingers on it

“mr. stark, i have a presentation to work on and i-”

“you know i can help you with it, right kid?”

tony was now looking at peter, whose eyes were on his tapping fingers. until the teen felt goosebumps rise on his skin. his senses were engaged.

peter turned around and saw steve, sam, and bucky standing in the doorway. he took a silent deep breath in, feeling relieved that it wasn’t a threat.

“i didn’t know the spiderling was going to be here today,” sam chuckled with bucky as the trio made their way over.

“is he staying the night?” bucky asked, and before peter could open his mouth, tony answered for him.

“yea he is. maybe for multiple if he feels up for it” 

the trio erupted into cheers.

“weekdays are so lame without you here, you better stay a while!” sam exclaimed as he made his way over to peter, who was staring wide-eyed at his mentor.

steve and bucky followed sam, whose arm was now around the teen.

“i-im not sure if i want to” peter revealed as he untangled himself from sams body part.

“why not?” steve asked, glancing at the kid with concern on his face.

“busy”

tony, who was observing the situation in the living room from the kitchen made his way over to the group and stood next to peter.

“but your schedule can be cleared” tony interjected while making eye contact with his protege.

peter didn’t return the eye contact.

“i’m going to bed” he retorted under his breath and walked out of the room

* * *

tony, sam, bucky, and steve looked at the doorway that peter just exited. 

“did he really just end the convo like that?” sam mumbled, looking over at tony, who looked just as confused as everyone else.

“i guess so. but i don’t get it! the kid needs a break. am i wrong for kinda forcing him to take one?” tony asked the group, who by now had sat themselves down at a table. steve was sitting next to tony, with bucky and sam across from them.

“well you asked him about it right?” bucky answered, placing his hands on the table intertwining them. 

“i told him he can stay the night and take a little break, plus he called may to make sure it was ok” tony responded.

“but did you mention multiple nights?” steve added on.

“shit steve. i didn’t. but he stays two nights on weekend so im not sure why this would be different”

“dude, this is a teenager who has school during the week. and spiderman, then homework. i don’t blame him for not wanting to stay multiple nights without knowing beforehand. he’s a busy kid” sam chimed in, getting nods from everyone but tony. 

“you should go talk to him stark” bucky suggested, and everyone stood up out of their chairs. 

“i’ll go do that” 

tony exited the room, and as soon as he was out of sight, the three remaining ran to the kitchen and grabbed multiple bags of popcorn out of the cabinet, and placed them in the microwave.

* * *

when peter practically _ran_ out of the living room, he knew everyone would ask him why. there was no way he was getting out of the conversation with just an _“i’m going to bed”_

but he was tired. so tired. his eyes were clamping shut with every step he took. with every inhale, the feeling of grogginess washed over him. he needed to sleep, not talk about how he was preoccupied with so much already and didn’t want to add more to his plate.

he arrived at his room, turned the door handle, and made his way inside, flicking on the lights as he entered.

the walls were grey. just like the rest of the compound. his bed, with white sheets and grey bedding, solidified the minimalist look. with a metal desk to the bed's right, and nothing else but a door to a walk in closet, the room was plain. peter didn’t mind it - he only stayed here two nights a week anyway.

his body instinctively made its way to the bed.

as he flung himself onto the soft surface and started to drift into sleep, there was a quiet knock on the door. 

“underoos, can i come in?”

it was tony. his voice was light but just loud enough that peter could hear it through the pillows he buried his head in.

“i-im going to sleep mr.stark” 

there was a creak, then the door was shut. 

“seriously mr. stark. i’m so tired and i-”

peter stopped speaking as the weight on the bed shifted towards the right. he lifted his head from the pillows and turned it to see tony sitting on the edge, looking down at the kid.

“i just want to make sure you’re alright” tony explained, turning his body so it was facing peter's.

“im alright. im just really tired” 

“physically or mentally?”

“both”

there wasn’t a spoken response from tony. instead, he took a hand and placed it on the teen's upper back. peter flinched at the touch but calmed down after tony began to rub soothingly. he turned his head so he was buried in the pillows again.

“that’s nice” peter mumbled to himself, unbeknownst that tony heard him. a smile wiped across the older man’s face. 

“wanna tell me whats going on?” tony pried again, continuing to rub his mentees back.

peter turned his head so his face wasn’t suffocated by pillows.

“i just never get a break” 

“from what?”

peter sat up on the bed and sat on the edge on tonys left.

“f-from anything!” peter began, standing up and pacing his room.

“care to elaborate?” tony responded.

“i get up every morning at six fifteen. get ready for the day. go to school. get the same sandwich from the same place. be spiderman. go to sleep. its just a cycle of the same thing and i can’t do it anymore!” 

by now, peter was shouting. everything he’s been feeling for the past couple of months was coming out in waves. terrifying was the only way to describe it. the way each word left his tongue, and the way tony was gazing at the kid with a look of concern he hadn’t seen before. it was all new and terrifying for both of them.

peter, after a minute of pacing his room back and forth, stopped right in front of tony.

“s-shit...i’m so sorry mr stark” peter finally whispered, looking down at the floor.

tony stood up and looked down at his protege.

“no ‘roos… i should’ve realized that you had a lot on your plate” 

peter flung himself back onto his bed.

“can i go to sleep now?” he asked tony, who turned his body so he was facing peter’s body.

“of course...goodnight peter”

tony made his way to the door.

“goodnight tony”

the mentor smiled to himself as he turned off the lights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you thought they were gonna hug...hehe  
> comments keep me going so please let me know what you think!!


	4. just a little light (to call my own) (3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “you don’t have to apologize for anything pete, what i want to talk about is how i can help you” tony replied, rotating his body so it was facing the doorway where peter was still standing  
> “i-i just really don’t know what to do mr.stark” the teen admitted, slowly making his way into his room so he was across from tony.   
> “well how can i help?” tony asked, now standing so he was a bit taller than his mentee.  
>   
>   
> after peter lashes out, tony and peter have a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! im so so sorry about the delay on this chapter.  
> the amount of writers block i had was terrible, and now im finally getting over it.  
> anyway thank you all for reading!!  
> chapter title is from emphasis by sleeping at last

bright.

that was peter's first thought when he woke up to the sun radiating through the glass panes into the bedroom. he sat up in his bed, the blanket still enveloping him.

“hey F.R.I.D.A.Y, what time is it?” peter asked the AI, turning himself and letting his legs drape over the side of the bed.

“it is currently nine twenty seven, peter, would you like me to let tony know you are awake?”

tony. 

all of last night's events were coming back to him. running out of the living room, barely being able to stay awake, yelling at his mentor, calling him tony.

“n-no, it’s ok FRI” 

peter sighed, standing up and raising his arms above his head to stretch. his muscles tensed as he achieved maximum stretch, and he brought them back down to his sides.

he made his bed then left the bedroom, walking down the hallway to the kitchen where the smell of bacon came through his nose.

“good morning peter!” a voice shouted, seemingly distant, but as the teen grudgingly walked closer to the delicious smell, the smiling face of wanda maximoff was waiting for a response.

“g-good morning ms. maximoff” peter mumbled, taking a look at the sizzling pork in the pan. 

“you little spiderling, you know you can call me wanda right?” wanda replied, using tongs to check the flip side of the bacon. she flipped it, the sizzling sound intensifying.

peter nodded, looking around the kitchen and living room to see no one else up.

“hey F.R.I.D.A.Y, where is everyone?” peter asked, twiddling with his pointer fingers in front of his torso.

“tony is in the lab with nat and steve. bucky, sam, vision, and bruce are all in the gym. thor and clint left to buy groceries. do you need anything peter?”

“n-no F.R.I, thank you”

just as peter was about to exit the kitchen, wanda yelled his name.

“peter! want any bacon?” 

and that’s how he left the kitchen with eight strips of bacon.

* * *

“so what happened last night?” natasha spoke as she entered the lab. steve and tony, who were silently tinkering with their projects side by side, didn’t answer. tony had an arm from one of the mark versions in his hands, with steve working on the strap for his red, white, and blue iconic shield. 

natasha approached the men closer, standing over their shoulders, observing their projects.

“what?” tony finally spoke up, placing the arm on the workbench in front of him, turning to face the woman.

“you two are unusually quiet, so something happened and i would’ve known if it was this morning. so it had to be last night”

steve, overhearing natashas assumption, placed the shield and the strap down on the workbench as well.

“peter kinda freaked out” steve answered, gazing at tony who turned his head to return eye contact.

“he didn't freak out, i think he's just stressed” tony added, looking back at natasha whose arms were crossed across her chest.

“instead of assuming how he feels, why don’t you talk to him?” the spy suggested, glaring at tony who did not return eye contact, instead, looking at the unfinished arm on the table.

“you see, i did, and all he said was that he needed a break” tony explained as he ran a hand through his hair.

“so ask him what he needs. does he need a couple days at home, or a vacation? a break can be different things” steve chimed in, looking at natasha for approval who gave him a little nod.

“i agree with cap, just talk to him again” 

tony sighed, knowing the two were right. he left the lab, leaving steve to return to his project. natasha sat next to him, looking at the arm tony was just working on.

“do you think tony is scared?” she asked steve, looking around at the different items in the lab which include prototypes of web-shooters, iron man arms, shield straps, and other random little weapons.

“of course he is. i’ve never seen him care this much about a kid.”

natasha grabbed a nearby tablet and began to go through some files, and the two worked on their things in silence.

* * *

peter was making his way to the lab, munching on the last strip of bacon when he collided with tony stark.

“m-mr stark, i’m sorry. this bacon is just so delicious. wanda made some and it’s in the kitchen if you want any” peter explained, smiling at the man trying to forget about last night's event.

“i’ll grab some later, can we talk kiddo?” tony responded, scanning peter to see his facial expression. there was a look of fear on his face, but it went away quickly enough that tony didn’t notice and peter nodded, following tony throughout the halls until eventually they got to the kids bedroom.

“i wanted to talk to you about what happened last night” tony begun, sitting on peter's bed and concerningly glanced at him.

the teen didn’t return the glance up at him, instead resorted to standing in the doorway, staring at the wooden floor.

“i’m sorry mr. stark, i didn’t mean to yell” peter apologized, keeping his gaze towards the ground.

“you don’t have to apologize for anything pete, what i want to talk about is how i can help you” tony replied, rotating his body so it was facing the doorway where peter was still standing. 

“i-i just really don’t know what to do mr.stark” the teen admitted, slowly making his way into his room so he was across from tony. 

“well how can i help?” tony asked, now standing so he was a bit taller than his mentee.

“would it be ok if i stay here for a little bit and work on school?” peter requested, finally returning his mentors eye contact.

“of course, would a week work?” tony obliged, smiling at peter who gave a sly smile back and nodded.

“thank you mr. stark, really, for everything.” peter smiled as he walked out of him room, leaving tony to observe his room. 

“F.R.I.D.AY, could you ask thor and clint to grab some paint samples while they’re at the store?” 

“of course, tony, anything else?”

“and some more bags of popcorn. i have a feeling that a certain group has been finishing them all off”

“will do, tony” 

tony exited the room, making his way to the kitchen.

* * *

“wanda, i just don’t know how you do it. the bacon is _perfectly_ crispy and chewy and so _flavorful_ and so _amazing_ ” sam rambled as he picked another piece off of the table and gobbled it like a snake eats its prey.

“it’s a special skill of mine” wanda bragged to sam, who turned to her with a mouth full of bacon strips.

“ew sam, shut your mouth” steve scolded from his right. 

“i heard there was bacon?” tony practically ran into the kitchen to see a half-plate of bacon strips. taking one, the man sat down across from steve. 

sam shut his mouth and chewed his bacon, before swallowing.

“how did everything with the spiderling go? steve explained the talk you two had earlier” sam quizzed, mouth now empty of bacon as he spoke.

“really good, he’s gonna stay for the next week” tony answered, smiling at everyone in the room, with wanda giving a slight smirk from the kitchen as she cooked more bacon. sam and steve high-fived tony, who gladly returned the gesture.

the three men made small talk while scarfing down the bacon in front of them, the plate having three strips left until wanda brought another plate out.

“wanda, my stomach,” sam pointed to his stomach “and my taste buds,” he stuck out his tongue at wanda “love you.” wanda laughed at sams praise, with steve and tony laughing as well.

“tony, why did you request paint samples?” 

thor asked, entering the room with clint, both of then each holding multiple bags from target and home depot.

“for peters room, why did you go to home depot?”

the tall god walked to the counter and placed the bags on its surface.

“i want to build a hammer”

and the laughing from everyone was ever-lasting.

* * *

“alright ‘roos, just pick out one color. please” tony begged his mentee, who was observing all of the paint samples clint and thor had brought back from their excursion. peter was looking at every shade very closely, so the two had been sitting in the living room for over 40 minutes.

“only one?” peter groaned, looking at all the different shades of colors. there was no limit to what he could choose. lots of reds, purples, whites, and every color in the rainbow.

“yes, just one. unless you want a bright pink and dark green wall”

“ew, no mr. stark. that would look so ugly”

tony chuckled, observing peter as he looked through all the colors.

“are you liking any so far?” 

peter, shuffling through the different shades of blue until he stopped at one.

“not rea- wait, this one”

it was a dark shade of blue. not as dark as the night, but not as light as the sky during the day. not too bold, not too flashy.

“that’s a perfect shade” tony replied, also sighing in relief under his breath. tony asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to request happy drive them to home depot.

in about ten minutes, tony, happy, and peter were all on their way to home depot. 

“so how long will it take to get the paint, check out, and get back to the compound so we can start painting?” peter asked, almost jumping in the back seat.

“not too long” tony answered from the front seat. peter nodded in response, looking out the window at the scenery. it was still daytime, so the blue of daytime was still out. the small cirrus clouds covered a small portion of the atmosphere. other cars sped by, along with trucks and suvs. and the teen observed every single one closely until they were in front of the orange home depot store.

* * *

“yea, i just need two cans of oxford blue."

the worker nodded and turned to the computer, not looking at tony at all.

"ok, and will you need someone to come out and do it for you?"

"do i look like i don't how to paint? i may be a billionaire but im not uneducated”

the worker, who clearly was not a fan of tony stark just rolled his eyes and put a jar in the paint mixing machine. peter stood shyly behind the tony, who observed the different aspects of the hardware. from the rude worker, to the families walking around grabbing random bolts and screws, until the sound of whirring was no longer there and the man was back face-to-face with a new worker, who handed tony the two cans of paint.

“and here’s two cans of oxford blue for ‘ya. can i help you with anything else?” the worker asked, smiling ear to ear.

“no no, thank you” tony smiled back at the worker who was smiling so big that their face could be stuck like that.

“think she was smiling because your tony stark, or because she’s a nice person?” peter laughed, with tony chuckling. 

“a little of both” the two were now laughing as they scanned the cans of paint and left the store, with happy waiting right outside for them. tony entered the back seat with peter.

“how was it?” happy asked, turning his head to the two behind him.

“interesting” peter responded, and everyone laughed as he told the story on the drive back to the compound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was writing this on the morning of thanksgiving and my grandpa brought up that he made bacon. thats why bacon plays a big part in this chapter.  
> also oxford blue is just a goregous color, and using it as a room color would be so pretty. i love it so much!  
> as always, comments keep me going and thank you again for reading! ill be sure to have a chapter up soon.


	5. you are so much more (than what i’ve become) (4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tony entered the room with his arms across his chest.  
> “so, rogers, i hear we’re going out for dinner tonight?” he asked with a look of complete oblivion all across his face.  
> “yea, you didn’t know? i was going to have nat tell you.” steve responded
> 
> dinner plans are made, and tony and peter finish painting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, its been a minute. i tried to have a posting schedule, but with work and school, its been hard. but im gonna try and get chapters out as soon as their finished. this one is pretty short because the next one is going to be pretty long and super detailed. not gonna lie, this chapater was written on the way back from a donut shop three hours away and thats why it's so short. anyway, onto the chapter!  
> the title for this chapter is from the song heirloom by sleeping at last

peter’s bed and desk were moved to the middle of the teen’s compound bedroom and covered in plastic tarp that tony had found in some random storage closet somewhere in the compound. the two were painting the walls of his room, using the roller brush to get an even coat. 

“almost done with the wall over here” peter shouted, though there was no need, as tony could hear him just fine in the small space. 

“alright, let me know when you’re done and you can come help me with the long wall over here” tony responded, looking over at peter who opted out of using a ladder to get the high parts of the walls painted, instead using his webs to hang from the ceiling. a silent chuckle left tony as he continued to use the other ladder to get the bare parts of the wall covered with the blue.

“hey F.R.I.D.A.Y, what are we having for lunch?” peter spoke up after a couple of minutes of silence.

“i’m not sure, peter, want me to ask everyone?” 

“sure, F.R.I.D.A.Y” peter smiled to himself as he finished up one last part of the wall.

“mr. stark, i’m done!” peter beamed as he turned his body around to see tony making his way down the ladder. although from the teen’s point of view, tony was upside down, he could tell that his mentor was observing the painted wall.

“wow ‘roos, you did a _really_ good job” tony truthfully responded, seeing no uneven spots or dripping paint anywhere. it was perfect.

“t-thank you mr. stark” peter smiled as he attempted to untangle himself from the webs.

“kid, you’re gonna fall and break a limb or something. let me help you”

tony stood near peter, who was still hanging upside down and began to untangle his mentee web by web. 

“geez pete, did you use all your web fluid to hold you up?” tony remarked, chuckling as he continued to unravel each piece of the sticky web.

“i just used enough so i feel like i wouldn’t fall” peter explained, aiding tony.

after a couple of minutes, peter slipped out from the web and into the arms of his mentor, who was standing with his arms out parallel to one another to catch peter bridal style.

“peter, steve asked if sandwiches are ok. he doesn’t want to make anything too big because everyone is going out for dinner tonight” F.R.I.D.A.Y spoke and earned a questionable look from tony.

“out to dinner? when was this planned?” tony investigated as peter jumped out of his arm and observed the three-quarters of the wall that were done.

“just now, sir. would you like me to let steve know you want to talk to him?” 

“where exactly is he?”

“he is in the gym with bucky, sir”

“let him know i’ll be right there” 

with that sentence from tony, he left the room, leaving peter to observe the unfinished paint job.

* * *

“you’re only going 7 miles an hour?” steve asked bucky as the two ran on separate treadmills that were side by side.

“hey, cap, i’m sorry that my life experiences didn’t cause me to be able to run at max speed” bucky retorted, the two laughing as they continued to run.

steve, having the super-soldier serum, was going the maximum twelve miles an hour, until a voice caused him to lower the speed to seven to match his partners.

“captain, mr stark is coming to speak to you.” it was F.R.I.D.A.Y. steve thanked the A.I, staying the seven miles per hour speed with bucky. 

a couple of minutes and hundreds of steps later, tony entered the room with his arms across his chest.

“so, rogers, i hear we’re going out for dinner tonight?” he asked with a look of complete oblivion all across his face. 

“yea, you didn’t know? i was going to have nat tell you.” steve responded, tapping the treadmill so the speed steadily slowed down until it reached zero. when the belt stopped moving, steve stepped off and grabbed a nearby water bottle, consuming its contents.

“no i didn’t, i guess she forgot to let me know. where’s dinner at?” tony asked as he uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on his waist.

“benihana, it’s a hibachi grill. you remember helen, right? she recommended it as a way for all of us to have some time together.” steve responded as he took a look at his best friend, who was steadily slowing down as well as he came to a complete stop.

“and i looked at the reviews and it seems to be a pretty good place.” bucky joined in as he made his way over to steve and stood next to him.

“see if i knew we were going out to eat, i would’ve everyone’s fancy attire steamed.” tony mumbled to himself, earning a look from steve.

“there’s…absolutely no need for that, this place doesn’t have a dress code.”

“so we’re going there in casual clothes?”

“yea, tony, what else are we gonna go in? swimsuits?” 

bucky's comment earned a laugh from both steve and tony, who were exiting the room, with bucky trailing behind.

“be ready by 5:00, it’s a decently long drive and then the whole experience is pretty long too.” steve informed tony as he parted ways, leaving tony to return to peters room.

* * *

when tony came back, he saw the room was now finished. peter was standing on the ladder, touching up some spots that needed an extra layer.

“oh, hey tony!” peter turned his head to his mentor.

“hey kid, i thought we were gonna finish this up together.”

“well i figured you were gonna do something else after talking to steve, and i had nothing to do so i just decided to do it.”

“i wouldn’t just leave you to do something else, you know that?”

there was a hesitant nod from peter who trekked his way down the ladder until both of his feet hit the floor.

“it’s looks good, though, right?”

tony smiled at his mentee. the now dark blue walls had the room no longer looking bare. it had character to it. though the furniture wasn’t unwrapped, tony already knew that the room was doing to look great.

“it’s looks _amazing_ , peter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't wait to get the next chapter finished, as always, comments and kudos are always appreciated!


End file.
